{"id":13089,"date":"2026-02-22T17:55:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13089"},"modified":"2026-02-22T17:55:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:55:49","slug":"how-four-years-of-ukraine-war-have-changed-russia-russia-ukraine-war-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13089","title":{"rendered":"How four years of Ukraine war have changed Russia | Russia-Ukraine war News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Nearly four years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on national TV that the country\u2019s armed forces had begun a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The war, known by its official euphemism of \u201cspecial military operation\u201d (SMO), has now lasted longer<\/a> than Russia\u2019s involvement in World War II from 1941 to 1945. Russian combat deaths, verified by the BBC and the independent Russian outlet MediaZona, have now topped 186,000<\/a> \u2013 nearly 13 times<\/a> the Red Army\u2019s losses during the entire 1980s war in Afghanistan, which lasted a decade and included soldiers from across the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

But while millions of Ukrainian refugees have fled and those who remain brave a bitter winter as Russian missiles batter the country\u2019s energy infrastructure, how have the past four years changed Russia? Al Jazeera spoke with people inside and outside the country to learn how life has changed since February 24, 2022.<\/p>\n

\"People
People buy produce at a hypermarket in Moscow on November 3, 2023 [AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Life goes on<\/h2>\n

Areas of western Russia bordering Ukraine, such as the Kursk and Belgorod regions, have come under artillery barrages, drone strikes and even ground incursions from Ukrainian forces with part of Kursk falling under Ukrainian control temporarily.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust over a year ago whilst Ukrainian forces were still in this region, you\u2019d get strikes multiple times per day,\u201d said 25-year-old Ben Higginbottom, better-known as YouTuber Ben the Brit<\/a>, who moved to Kursk with his Russian wife in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what might shock people is how used to it locals became and me included in that. Nobody ran to shelters with each strike. Otherwise, you\u2019d never be able to live your life. You\u2019d always be in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the local news site Fonar.tv<\/a>, at least 458 civilians have been killed in Ukrainian attacks on the Belgorod region since the war began.<\/p>\n

But major metropolises, such as Moscow and St Petersburg, have barely felt the war while the sanctions imposed by Ukraine\u2019s Western allies are mere inconveniences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so expensive. I\u2019m in shock,\u201d said Andrey, a 30-year-old Muscovite.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just like Europe \u2013 everybody\u2019s complaining about the prices there too. Even if you only buy some beer, cigs and chocolate, you still wind up spending at least 1,000 roubles [$13] at the store. But in Moscow, people\u2019s purchasing power hasn\u2019t obviously fallen much. Kids are crowded in lines at supermarket cafes. The whole city is full of taxi drivers and endless delivery drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some things have changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became very problematic to find some brands that you used to buy before,\u201d said Kirill F, a 39-year-old photographer from St Petersburg who requested that his full name not be disclosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can be found from resellers, but they\u2019ve become more expensive, and they\u2019re no longer sold in stores,\u201d he said. Some South Korean brands have returned to Russia, he said. LG washing machines and refrigerators are now available again.<\/p>\n

Chinese brands are also available, but they are \u201cnot as good quality as the tech we used to get from Germany or Poland\u201d, Kirill said.<\/p>\n

To get around overseas payment restrictions because of Western sanctions, for example on apps, Kirill opened a bank account in Kyrgyzstan. It\u2019s not an insurmountable obstacle but an annoyance, he said.<\/p>\n

But Kirill is less sanguine about the restrictions imposed by his own government. Since 2022, the Kremlin has introduced strict laws penalising what it calls \u201cfake news\u201d about the invasion. Additionally, the authorities have blocked social media such as Instagram and Facebook and made it harder to use WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube, promoting state-backed alternatives such RuTube<\/a> and the messaging app Max<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, we were blocked from using Facebook, but we had few people using it and they just installed VPNs, and then YouTube was banned,\u201d Kirill recounted.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor ordinary citizens, this blockage just worsens life. That\u2019s all. Younger people perceive it as a violation of their personal life, and they will grow up hating the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A shopping mall at the Moscow International Business Centre, also known as Moskva-City, in Moscow on February 17, 2026 [Ramil Sitdikov\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opinions about the war<\/h2>\n

Opinion polls consistently find the war enjoys widespread support<\/a> among the public although analysts cautioned that laws criminalising antiwar sentiment make it hard to judge the accuracy of these polls.<\/p>\n

The brother of 30-year-old Vladislav from Saratov in southwestern Russia enlisted as a drone pilot in the Russian forces a month ago. The Russian military now attracts plenty of recruits through generous pay packets rather than relying on conscripts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I thought [the war] was wrong, like what \u2018denazification\u2019 are you talking about?\u201d Vladislav told Al Jazeera via Telegram before hastily deleting his messages. The Kremlin has described the Ukrainian leadership under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as pro-Nazi, and has insisted that its military operation is driven by a desire to \u201cdenazify\u201d Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then the Ukrainian side started posting photos of swastikas, SS skulls and other symbols of fascist ideology,\u201d Vladislav said, referring to symbols that have appeared on some Ukrainian soldiers\u2019 uniforms and unit flags. \u201c\u2026 Both my grandparents were WWII veterans; may they rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, he said, he agrees with Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. \u201cZelenskyy and his entire fascist fraternity must be destroyed, no more prisons. \u2026 I hope my brother will make a huge contribution,\u201d he added. \u201cHe\u2019s a great guy, an excellent driver, and the fact that he spent so much time playing simulation games will help him defeat every Nazi scum in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirill, too, had his doubts about the invasion, considering the outbreak of war a failure of Russian diplomacy, and still shakes his head when he sees Russian pro-war symbols in public.<\/p>\n

But as time went on, his attitude towards both peace and liberals grew more jaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe read both the foreign press and the liberal analysts, who told us the Russian economy had two weeks left, yet here we are four years later, and everything\u2019s fine. What do you think our attitude will be towards the people who told us such things?\u201d he asked rhetorically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that since it\u2019s already begun, we need to go all the way to victory,\u201d Kirill added. \u201cIf you started a fight, you can\u2019t just say \u2018I\u2019m sorry\u2019 and stop. That is to say, I don\u2019t support [the invasion], but I also don\u2019t support reparations, all this nonsense. No one will go for it. Even among those who are against the war, they don\u2019t want to lose completely because their lives will be adversely affected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the question of apathy. Historically, many Russians have concerned themselves more with day-to-day survival than the machinations of power, a trend that has continued with the \u201cspecial military operation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s in denial. Almost everyone in my circles is staunchly apolitical and tries to ignore the news,\u201d Andrey observed.<\/p>\n

\"Emergency
Emergency crews and soldiers work at the site of a Russian missile strike on a supermarket in Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine [File: Iryna Rybakova\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Going AWOL<\/h2>\n

But denial is impossible for some.<\/p>\n

Seeing the carnage up close made Alexander Medvedev* change his mind. Having completed both his national service, a 12-month mandatory draft, and a previous deployment to Syria, the 38-year-old trucker from Kemerovo in Siberia was mobilised into the elite Ural Battalion, where he was assigned the post of machinegunner in a support platoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d been told for years that everything in Ukraine was steeped in Nazism and hatred of Russia and Russians,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I thought and assumed this was a punitive operation aimed at the regime in that country than at the Ukrainian people as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

By January 2023, Medvedev\u2019s unit entered the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, setting up base in an abandoned mine. Medvedev considered himself lucky to have been assigned to a support platoon because the assault squads \u201csuffered 60 or 70 percent casualties in an hour of combat\u201d.<\/p>\n

Travelling through war-torn Ukrainian villages and speaking with the locals, Medvedev began questioning his mission. \u201cThe realisation that I was fighting a war that no one needed, that would bring no good to anyone in this world but would only produce a mountain of corpses, widows, orphans and miserable mothers and fathers haunted me,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

On July 7, 2023, he went AWOL and tried to return to his hometown.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first few months after returning, I didn\u2019t understand what was going on around me at all. There was a war somewhere, but here in Siberia or the Urals, people were living as if nothing was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facing criminal indictment for abandoning his post, Medvedev contacted the organisation Get Lost<\/a>, which helps draft dodgers and deserters. With its help, he escaped abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI miss my homeland very much. I hope to return but to a different country where people will begin to value and cherish peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Georgian
Georgian citizen and teacher Miriam Nozadze conducts a Georgian language lesson for Russian exiles in Tbilisi, Georgia, on February 15, 2023 [Irakli Gedenidze\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Get the hell out\u2019<\/h2>\n

In the first year of the war, experts estimated that about two million Russians left their motherland. Among them were young men fearing they would be conscripted and sent to the front lines as well as those with deeply held anti-Putin convictions, such as 35-year-old Mike* from Russia\u2019s fourth largest city.<\/p>\n

Mike packed one small bag and decided \u201cto get the hell out of Yekaterinburg\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mike has since settled in Berlin, where he\u2019s involved in an activist community helping those still in the country. But he\u2019s grown disillusioned with both the West and the liberal Russian opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe genocide in Gaza conducted in front of our very eyes with the clear complicity of Western elites shattered whatever illusions one could have about the Western powers helping Ukraine,\u201d he sighed.<\/p>\n

If the West isn\u2019t ready to intervene more directly, Mike said, then a compromise seems more reasonable, even if that essentially means a defeat for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter four years, the situation looks really\u00a0bleak, and this winter in Ukraine, Putin\u2019s regime showed its most cynical, completely inhumane\u00a0nature by destroying civic infrastructure all across the country. That tells you a lot about how far they can go in pursuing their goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of difficulties fitting in or finding work in their host countries, many Russian emigres have since returned home. Rising anti-immigrant sentiment, including in Germany, isn\u2019t helping.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is good, but I\u2019m more and more conscious of my immigration status,\u201d Mike said. \u201cI didn\u2019t plan on leaving [Russia], but I\u2019m not fantasising about returning.\u201d<\/p>\n

*Some names have been changed for the security of interviewees while others requested that their full name not be disclosed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly four years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on national TV that the country\u2019s armed forces had begun a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war, known by its official euphemism of \u201cspecial military operation\u201d (SMO), has now lasted longer than Russia\u2019s involvement in World War II from 1941 to 1945. Russian combat deaths, verified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}